Pictorial calendars show photographs or other artwork with calendar information. A typical format for such calendars is to display a photograph with calendar information for each month of the year. A one year calendar may have 12 photographs for the 12 months of the year. Of course, a single photograph or multiple photographs can be displayed with each month, multiple months, or fractional months. Artwork for pictorial calendars is selected to be entertaining, informative, or aesthetically pleasing. The term artwork is defined to include photographs, drawings, printed text and any other printed matter that is desired for display with calendar information.
Generally, the artwork is of excellent quality. Some calendar owners like the artwork so much that they save their old pictorial calendars. However, most pictorial calendars are thrown away upon expiration of the calendar information. This is done even though the artwork may still be in good condition and results in needless waste production. The waste problem is significant since tens of millions of pictorial calendars are published annually. Inks in the artwork exacerbate the paper recycling problem: the paper must be de-inked before recycling.
Calendar companies tend to think of their products as being completely disposable. The calendar companies select captivating artwork. The customers are expected to view each item of artwork for one month. Then, at year end, the customers are expected to throw the pictorial calendars away and buy new ones. This is ironic. The artwork in some calendars are reproductions of great paintings or other things of beauty, yet calendar companies seem to believe that the appeal of the artwork is lost after one month of viewing. Furthermore, pictorial calendars are expensive.
Allowing the use of the artwork in pictorial calendars to be limited by the calendar information is illogical. Usually, the cost of printing the artwork is greater than the cost of printing the calendar information. So, why let the calendar information limit the use the artwork? The answer is: no one has devised a practical way to reuse the artwork with updated calendar information. The disclosed invention provides a solution to this problem. Specifically, the present invention allows production of updated pictorial calendars from expired pictorial calendars or from any other bound artwork.
Although methods of reusing the artwork as pictorial calendars have been unavailable, there are alternative uses for the artwork. Rassi in 1990 U.S. Pat. No. 4,902,042 reviews methods of using calendar artwork after expiration of the calendar information. Calendars exist for which the artwork can be detached and used as postcards as in 1988 U.S. Pat. No. 4,757,624 to Holec. Some calendars are made to be used as picture books or handbooks after expiration of the calendar information, as in Rassi 1990 U.S. Pat. No. 4,902,042 and Esslinger 1958 U.S. Pat. No. 2,831,279. Alternatively, calendar bindings can be removed and the artwork displayed as simply artwork without calendar information.
These options are inadequate. They cannot accommodate the diverse sizes of artwork used for pictorial calendars. They are impractical for the number of pages typical for pictorial calendars. They require too much space for storage or display. Nor are they easily retrofitable for existing expired pictorial calendars.
The disclosed invention overcomes the deficiencies of the other options by permitting reuse of pictorial calendar artwork as renewed pictorial calendars.
The limited choice in artwork is another problem related to conventional pictorial calendars. Calendar themes such as animals, famous people, cars, etc. are published annually from which customers can choose. But no methods exist for conveniently converting one's own artwork into pictorial calendars that are reusable for multiple years. Limited solutions are available. For example, combination calendars and picture frames exist. Personally selected artwork can be put into the frame, and the calendar information is replaceable. However, only one item of artwork is held in the frame and replacing the artwork can be tedious. Alternatively, personally selected artwork can be printed with calendar information. But, here again, the problem of reusing the artwork remains.
The present invention will solve this problem. The invention allows personal photograph albums or any other personal artwork to be converted into pictorial calendars that can be reused for as many years as the artwork will last. In essence, a truly personal pictorial calendar is obtainable with this invention; each photograph can be personally selected and reused repeatedly.